Month: September 2016

France in ruins, after a war that has left its people miserable. The people of France struggle for survival, and fight for those they love as they cling onto their last hopes. The performance of “Les Miserables” at Socorro High school demonstrated how difficult those times were for the people of France.

The story starts with the release of Jean Valjean, an ex-convict who was imprisoned for stealing a loaf of bread. Raul Hernandez gave an excellent performance in the role of Jean Valjean, interpreting the change that occurs within Jean without flaw. Maxine Guerrero in the role of Cosette, along with Valjean were able to undoubtedly interpret the caring Father-Daughter relationship that Cossette and Jean Valjean share.

Gerralyn Hill was absolutely astonishing in the role Mme.Thenardier, she without a doubt brought the role alive and portrayed the character magnificently. Along with her, Raul Olivas in the role of Thenardier gave an incredible performance. His actions on stage replicated the character in an excellent manner. Another outstanding performer was Ethan Barrera in the role of Inspector Javert, who played the law abiding inspector with such great ease.

There was overwhelming and powerful death scene that stood out. Sierra Galvan in the role of Fantine was outstanding as she preformed Fantine’s last moments so realistically. The coughing was believable and it was clear that Fantine cared about Cosette’s future more than anything in her dying moments. The song that they chose to play for this scene only added to the moment and was deeply touching.

The lighting in the show was perfect and never bothered the eyes, it was clear what colors the lights were meant to be. They added a nice touch before the show and during intermission making the stage lights Red, and Blue to reference the French flag. Their props and set where also magnificent, they had lanterns from the time period hanging above the stage which made a great addition to the show.

Although the make up could use some improvement, it didn’t take away from the show. The costumes were wonderful; you could easily tell the performers apart from each other on stage. Throughout the whole show the story was clear and it was easy to hear what the performers were saying at all times. The sound seemed off, but it wasn’t an issue and didn’t take away from the performance. The ending was powerful. All performers held candles onstage and included a direct quote from the book.

Overall The Teatristas company did a flawless job at presenting “Les Miserables.” The story was easy to understand. This show was enjoyable to watch!

by Michelle Gonzalez of Chapin High School

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Les Miserables follows the story of Jean Valjean, a convict and who faced many struggles while trying to outrun the shadows of his past. In this production we see Valjean take up many false identities to try and escape Inspector Javert, the police officer who has been tracking Valjean ever since the beginning. Jean Valjean later meets a girl named Fantine, who entrusts him to take care of her daughter Cosette. We travel ten years later to see Cosette all grown up, but still under the watchful eye of Jean Valjean. But in the same city we see a revolution is underway, as well as one of Valjean’s shadows coming to light. The rest of this play shows Valjean struggling to keep his true identity unknown while protecting Cosette. This story is told through the scope of the French Revolution.

Socorro’s production team did a very good job of capturing the essence of this story. The set was done very well and was immersive into the French Revolution. The set also provided a great space for the actors on stage to create beautiful pictures on stage. The lighting was done beautifully. There was not one point where I noticed anything that suggested the lighting was off. The sound was the one technical area I felt needed work. Even though they had many cues, the sounds were late for many of them. All together, the technical aspects were done very well.

The actors in this show did a very good job and stayed invested in the story which in turn, allowed us to stay invested in the show. One standout performance was that of Ethan Barrera as Inspector Javert. Whenever Barrera was on stage, he commanded it with an incredible stage presence. Another acting aspect worth mentioning was the very convincing relationship between Valjean (Raul Hernandez) and Cosette (Maxine Guererro) as father and daughter. They brought a very human aspect to the show.

Overall, the theatre company at Socorro did a very good job at capturing the essence of this iconic show and its complex characters. I can’t wait to see what this company will do next!

Cappies

The El Paso Cappies Blog is here to provide information about high school theater in El Paso. We will be providing reviews of shows past and previews of shows to come. Most of our content will be student generated.